JULY 31, 2003 | You’re living what you think is a relatively healthy, normal life when suddenly you get a funny feeling right in the middle of your chest.

It’s hard to describe – kind of a discomfort, but it’s feeling more and more painful. Now it’s radiating out to your shoulders and arm, or it may be moving to your neck and jaw. You’re getting restless, anxious and your breathing quickens. You feel a little nauseated, your skin is cold and clammy, and the pain is getting worse.

Welcome to what the physicians call acute myocardial infarction. You know it as a heart attack. Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) encompasses a wide variety of diseases that can affect the heart and blood vessels in the body, with heart attack one of the most common and serious.

“Matters of the Heart” is the title of a free seminar focusing on “women and heart disease and what’s new in heart care” Saturday, Aug. 23, from 9:30 a.m.-noon. The seminar will be in Sam Walton Auditorium on the tenth floor of the Arkansas Cancer Research Center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). Free parking will be available in the Outpatient Parking Deck on the corner of Cedar Street and Capitol Avenue. For reservations call (501) 526-6199 or e-mail seminars@uams.edu.

The seminar will feature faculty members from the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine.

“Cardiovascular Disease accounts for almost twice as many deaths each year than all forms of cancer combined,” said UAMS Cardiologist and Associate Professor Eugene Smith, M.D., one of the seminar’s presenters.  “While many understand the risk among men, most are surprised to find that CVD is also the leading cause of death among women.  About a third of these deaths occur suddenly, but most of these occur in individuals with a prior history of heart disease or risk factors for heart disease.”

Some factors that put people at greater risk cannot be controlled, things like age and family history. Other risk factors, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, excess weight and a lack of physical activity, can be monitored and adjusted by behavior. “Most people could reduce their overall risk of CVD by more than 50 percent,” Dr. Smith said.  “Unfortunately we live in a culture that has some very unhealthy habits.”   

Keeping excess weight off (especially around the waist and tummy), lowering the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol level through diet or drugs, and getting physically active are all things that can reduce cardiovascular risk. A simple walking program, starting with warm up and cool down periods of normal walking for five minutes each, sandwiched around a period of brisk walking in the middle, can do wonders for cardio health. When you begin, the brisk walking time should be about five minutes, and increase about two minutes per week.

“While these things may not be easy, they’re definitely worth the effort if they can prevent a heart attack or stroke,” Smith said.

Women have particular problems related to heart disease, yet are often under diagnosed for the condition. Stereotypes persist that CVD is not “a woman’s disease,” but the evidence paints a different picture. A study completed in 2001 by Jean McSweeney, Ph. D., R.N., of the UAMS College of Nursing demonstrated that some women experienced warning signs such as fatigue, sleep disturbance, shortness of breath, and indigestion up to two years before having a heart attack, but were undiagnosed. The practical result is that Cardiovascular Disease is often farther along when it’s finally noticed in women, and their chances of a full recovery are greatly diminished.

Postmenopausal women may actually be more vulnerable to heart attack than men. Other studies have shown that blood pressure levels in women, while lower than men in early and mid life, rise after menopause and exceed those of men 60 to 70 years old. Blood pressure sometimes rises in a pregnant woman and hypertension is very common in a first pregnancy. That can be dangerous for both the mother and child.

Modern treatments for heart disease range from an aspirin a day to coronary artery bypass surgery. One of the great treatment breakthroughs is called drug-eluting stents. A stent is a tiny mesh cage placed in the artery to keep them open for free blood flow. The new “smart” stents slowly release an antibiotic that prevents the arteries from re-narrowing. Early tests have shown remarkable success rates.

CVD sometimes results in the heart muscle itself weakening to the point it is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body’s demands. That condition is called heart failure, and when it becomes critical, heart transplantation may be the only viable treatment. UAMS is one of only three health care facilities in Arkansas that perform heart transplants. Dr. Smith is the medical director for the UAMS Heart Transplant Program.

“We do about four to five heart transplants a year,” Smith said.  “I view this as a treatment of last resort because it is quite involved and the supply of organs is limited.  But when I see patients, who were once dying in the hospital, bring in their stories of working again on their ranch or chasing their children around the house, it makes me thankful that I can be part of a transplant team.”

To make an appointment or find out more information about the Cardiology Program at UAMS, call (501) 686-5880, or visit www.uams.edu online.

Links on This Page

Division of Cardiovascular Medicine:  http://www.uams.edu/cardiology/index.htm
UAMS Heart Transplant Program:  http://www.uams.edu/cardiology/index.htm
Mother with Heart Failure Delivers Healthy Baby at UAMS: http://www.uams.edu/today/2003/011603/HeartFailureDelivers.htm
Heart Transplant Recipients Share Fears and Joys at UAMS: http://www.uams.edu/today/2002/121002/hearttransplant.htm
Transplant Program Addresses Heart Failure Epidemic: http://www.uams.edu/today/060701/heart.htm
Are You at Risk of Heart Disease?: http://www.uams.edu/today/053101/heart.htm
Audio – Heart Health Horizon:  http://www.uams.edu/htyh/0802/hearthorizon.htm
Audio – Heart Attacks:  http://www.uams.edu/htyh/0401/heartattacks.htm
Audio – Heart Disease in Women:  http://www.uams.edu/htyh/0301/heartdisease.htm

 
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